Revised: 31 May 2019

Medical Devices

Revised: 25 September 2018

Surgical Mesh – Safety Information

Surgical mesh is a medical device that is used when repairing weakened structures with the aim of providing additional support. It can be absorbable or non-absorbable. Non-absorbable mesh will remain in the body indefinitely so should be considered a permanent implant.

Surgical mesh is in use for urogynaecological surgery including repair of pelvic organ prolapse (POP) and stress urinary incontinence (SUI). Surgery is used to treat pelvic organ prolapse when other non-invasive treatments have been found to be not suitable or have failed. The use of mesh in surgery was introduced in response to the high failure rate of both initial surgery and revision surgery estimated at about 30%^1, with the aim of augmenting the surgery and reducing the failure rate.

Surgical mesh is also widely used for hernia repair.